How does Islam compare with Christianity and Judaism?

Islam, or, the Way of Self-Surrender to God, was taught by all Prophets whether their race was Jewish, Chinese, African, Arab or Cheyenne.

Accordingly, Moses, who is regarded as the pivotal figure in Judaism, and Jesus, who is the central personality of Christianity, both taught Islam to their peoples. The teachings of these great Messengers of God did not go unchanged, however, over the centuries, and one can find that many practices, beliefs and customs practiced by the adherents of those faiths today differ from the original purity of their founder's message.

Muhammad (pbuh), simply brought the last installment of self-surrender (Islam) to the world in order to correct earlier corruption in humanity's knowledge of the truth. So if the roots of Judaism and Christianity are the same as Islam, why does Islam seem so exotic and strange?

The problem is two-fold. On the one hand, there are people in the world who claim to be Muslims, but who do not follow the ethical or religious teachings of the faith. Unfortunately, the media has a universal fascination with negative news and a reluctance to highlight the positive. On the other hand, much of what we read and learn about Islam in the west is written, interpreted and presented by those who either know very little about Islam and the Muslim world. or are even hostile towards it.

An even more important area of misunderstanding lies in the basic assumptions about religion that the Western world and the Islamic world make. Because of the West's negative experience with religion, an alternate ideology known as secular-humanism had to be established to allow science, rationalism and free thought to flourish. Islamic civilization, in contrast, never impeded science nor the development of human thought, so a break between secular values and religious ones never occurred. This is why Islam is often mix-labeled "Theocratic." Education and improvements in global awareness, however, are slowly wearing down barriers to understanding, but it will require some effort from all of us to finally reach a point of tolerance and mutual good-will.